[Kao – School Grounds – 10:45 a.m.]
The fall hits like a hammer. Air rushes past, whipping my hair, twisting my body. The ground rushes up hard and unyielding.
I slam into dirt and debris, pain exploding through my side, my leg, my skull.
Everything blurs. Black spots dance in my vision.
But I don't scream.
I don't break.
Because that's not what I am.
[10:47 a.m.]
I roll to my knees, gasping.
The world spins school walls are cracked, gates mangled, the helicopter's rotors are fading into the sky.
Namtan's face flashes in my mind.
I was Betrayed.
By the people I saved.
The pain in my ribs is nothing compared to that.
Moans echo around me zombies are shuffling from the shadows, drawn by the noise.
Basics. Their eyes empty jaws hanging.
I grip my axe, ready.
But they… stop.
They circle, but don't lunge.
Don't bite. They can't do it because I'm one of them.
[10:50 a.m.]
I swing the axe, testing and It doesn't flinch.
I step back, my heart pounding not from fear, from something deeper. They see me as one of them.
Naïve.
Intelligent zombie.
The word tastes like ash in my mouth.
What am I?
What was I made for?
The questions burn, hotter than any fever.
I need answers.
About me. About Naïves.
About whatever made us this way.
[10:55 a.m.]
The ground rumbles. I hear a distant boom.
Probably the school main gate getting bombed by soldiers. They said they'd bomb it.
The helicopter's gone, but the fire's coming.
Smoke rises from the front, flames licking the walls.
I can't stay.
Zombies mill around me, harmless, like shadows.
I run through the yard, past broken fences.
[11:00 a.m.]
Betrayal stings worse than the fall.
Namtan pushed me and the others let it happen.
Lin would have fought for me.
But Lin's gone.
Her kiss lingers on my lips, a ghost now.
Feelings make you weak.
That's what they taught us.
Whoever "they" are.
I need to find them.
Find the truth.
About Naïves. About me.
[11:05 a.m.]
The East gate looms with twisted metal, open to the wild.
I slip through, the zombies stopping at the edge, like an invisible line.
They watch me go.
The road stretches east cracked pavement leading to a lake, trees hugging the sides.
Water.
Maybe answers lie there.
Or nothing.
But I keep running.
The bombing echoes behind me, fire cracking the air.
The school is gone.
The group is gone.
Me?
I'm just beginning.
[11:10 a.m.]
The road twists toward the lake, water glinting under the sun. Zombies aren't following me.
I'm alone. Betrayed, but free.
My side aches from the fall, but I don't stop.
The truth is out there.
About what I am.
About Naïves.
I'll find it.
Or die trying. But dying?
That's for humans.
And I'm not one anymore.